Ortho, the insecticide people, have a great series of radio ads out there touting their fire ant killer product, Orthene.
Go here to have a listen (scroll down). This is the website of the man who voiced the ad. I have tried to embed the audio with no success but I just love to listen to these adverts.
The Amdro bait has worked on only a few of the antbeds I have out back and so I went with the Orthene yesterday. One small beef: the bottle it comes in is huge compared to the amount of product within, What's up with that? I wonder if it has something to do with combustibility in close quarters. Anyhoo, the stuff smells foul and no I didn't stick my nose in there to sniff it either. I stayed well clear of it, holding it out at arms reach as I marched from mound to mound and sprinkled tablespoons of it while calling the beasts to dinner. I almost got every mound before it ran out so I bought another bottle in the afternoon and will continue this morning.
I told you , it's war!
Along farming lines, I mentioned that the vines and cornseeds were also re-emerging in the disced field. We hired another fellow with tractor (FWT) to re-disc it once more and I spent a hour or two out there hoeing it into two 30' rows to plant red potatoes and we'll spread red clover on the remainder as a cover crop.
The collards, cabbage and cauliflower are withering away. Luckily, there were only a few of each so I'll wait another week or two and try again. It may have been too soon in the heat for such small seedlings to be able to hold out all day out there. A few are still ok but not exactly thriving.
The swiss chard and beets were definitely devoured to the last seed and I reseeded those beds last night, after the anthill massacre so wish me well. The shallots are starting to pop up and the tomato experiment seems to be working. I think that plant I buried is establishing new root systems right now because I see no new growth on the stems yet. The few tomatoes that had been fertilized on the vine have not fallen off so I hold out considerable hope that they will survive the trauma.
The kale is hale, the carrots are just showing a wee bit of leg, I have leek seeds that I'll plant today but I don't know if it's too soon or too late for them. The brussel sprouts and broccoli look pretty good, considering they are both cold weather plants. Ooh, the lettuce and mustard tenders are up!!! I did put in rutabagas last week but I see nothing yet there. And the sugar snaps look terrific. I always expect beans to be a success. Call me crazy.
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